Virgil Abloh (born September 30, 1980) is an Ghana-American fashion designer who has been an artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection since March 2018. Apart from working at Louis Vuitton, Abloh is the chief executive officer of Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2013.
Born in Chicago, Illinois to Ghana's parents, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002 and the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006, with degrees in civil engineering and architecture, respectively. He entered the fashion world with an apprenticeship at Fendi in 2009 with rapper Kanye West. Both embark on artistic collaborations that will launch Abloh's career into setting up Off-White. Time magazine named it one of the 100 most influential people in the world by 2018.
Video Virgil Abloh
Kehidupan Awal
Virgil Abloh was born on September 30, 1980 in Rockford, Illinois to parents of Ghana immigrants. His mother was a tailor. Abloh grew up in Rockford, where he studied at Boylan Catholic Junior High School, graduating in 1998. He met his future wife, Shannon, in high school. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He received his Master of Architecture degree at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006.
Maps Virgil Abloh
Careers
2009-2013: rise to fame
After graduating from university, he was apprenticed in Fendi in the same class as rapper Kanye West in 2009. Placed in the corporate office of Rome, Italy, the two started a collaborative relationship. A year later, West appointed Abloh as creative director of his creative agency, DONDA. In 2011, West asked him to serve as artistic director for the 2011 Jay-Z/Kanye West album Watch the Throne . In 2012, Abloh launched its first company, Pyrex Vision, a small boutique streetwear couture. Abloh purchased a $ 40 Ralph Lauren deadstock suit, a printed design on the screen, and sold it for more than $ 550. He closed the company a year later because he did not intend to become a commercial company but an artistic experiment.
2013-2017: Off-White and mainstream success
Abloh set up his first fashion house and second business overall in 2013 with a high-end streetwear brand, Off-White. Based in Milan, Italy, the company was described by Abloh as "a gray area between black and white as a white color" for investors and fashion critics. She launched the company's women's clothing line in 2014 and showed her collection at Paris Fashion Week. His collection was selected as a finalist for the LVMH Prize, an industry award, but lost to Marques'Almeida and Jacquemus. Abloh launched his first concept store for Off-White in Tokyo, Japan where he started the arm furniture company, Gray Area. In 2017, he was asked to design a new collection along with Nike entitled "The Ten" in which he redesigned the company's top-selling shoes. Virgil also partnered with the Swedish furniture company IKEA to design furniture for apartments and homes. The collection will be named Markerad which is a Swedish word meaning "clear, crisp, pronounced" and scheduled to be released in 2019.
2018-present: Louis Vuitton
On March 25, 2018, Abloh was appointed as artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear line, marking him the first African-born to lead the men's clothing line, as well as one of several black designers at the helm of a major French fashion house.. After accepting the position, he stated, "It is an honor for me to accept this position, I find the creative heritage and integrity of the home is a key inspiration and will look to refer them both while drawing parallels into the modern age." Abloh is ready to showcase his first collection for Louis Vuitton in 2018 Men's Fashion Week in Paris.
Influences
Virgil's employs style quotes to convey an ironic detachment of society and social norms.
Personal life
Abloh maintains a house in Lincoln Park in Chicago where he lives with his wife, Shannon Abloh and their two children Lowe and Gray. He travels 350,000 miles a year for his work. He is an Ewe tribe in the Volta region of Ghana.
Politics
During the rise of neo-nationalism in 2017 Abloh works with conceptual artist Jenny Holzer to create a line that emphasizes the positive aspects of immigration, cultural integration, and globalization. In December 2017, he teamed up with Holzer again to design a T-shirt for Planned Parenthood in response to March Women in Washington.
Recognition
Abloh received his first major award in 2011 when his work designed the Jay-Z/Kanye West 2011 album Watch the throne cover art
See also
- List of people at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- List of Illinois Institute of Technology people
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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